


Oh, what a night!

by Miss_Von_Cheese



Series: Thunderstruck [2]
Category: Captain America, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom, Thor - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Dates, Chronic Illness, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Prom, Romance, Sports
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-20 23:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1530239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Von_Cheese/pseuds/Miss_Von_Cheese
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Does Steve Rogers really think a girl like Thora would be his prom date? It's mission impossible, but Steve is not the pessimistic kind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, what a night!

**Author's Note:**

> I hold no responsibility for rotten teeth and other side effects of ridiculous sweetness, but she who never liked a good sappy prom story cast the first stone. ;)
> 
> Many thanks to Nausicaa82 for her help, beta-reading and consulting on details of US culture.

“Woah there, looking good today!” Bucky cheered from across the corridor and Steve hunched his shoulder, trying to ignore him. But the star pitcher of the varsity baseball team was too curious for his own good, too stubborn too, and he trotted to join Steve in front of his locker.

“So, why the nice haircut? Oooh and a new t-shirt?” he nodded. “What are you up to?”

“You know what I’m up to,” Steve mumbled, blushing, as he disappeared into his locker to search through his stuff.

He didn’t have much: no laptop, no tablet, his mom couldn’t afford anything fancy, but the locker was filled with drawings and sketches, making it difficult to find actual school supplies. After a few minutes, Steve managed to pull out four books that looked as heavy as him. Bucky tried to help but Steve rejected him with a quick move of the hand. He could do it alone.

“You’re gonna invite a girl for the prom?” Bucky realized, suddenly excited. “Wow! It was about time! Who’s the lucky one? A girl from your art club?”

Steve grunted as he pushed his backpack on his shoulders. The weight of his books made him limp but he didn’t want help and shrugged Bucky off one more time.

“You know who…” Steve whispered as if it were a classified secret. 

He looked at Bucky, ready to join his next class, but his words died in his throat as he saw her walking through the door. She was stunning, as always, and Steve felt his heart race, his breath coming short. Thora Oddinsdöttir, the treasure of the foreign exchange program. She was everything Steve wasn’t: tall, athletic, strong, popular. Beautiful.

Steve kept staring at her reverently, holding his sketchbook in front of him like a shield that would protect him from her grace. Their eyes met as she walked down the hallway, she quickly looked away with a small smile, and Steve felt his toes curl in his cheap sneakers. 6 ft 3¼ of pure perfection with a Swedish accent. It’s only when she disappeared around the corner that Steve noticed Bucky was talking to him.

“Hmmwhat?” he mumbled.

Bucky placed a hand on his shoulder, looking sorry. “Steve… I’m not sure it’s a good idea. She’s a hammer throw champion; you’re not from the same world. She’s not a girl for you. She’s out of your league, you know.” 

“Well, we won’t be sure until I ask her, right?” Steve insisted with a stubborn pout. “I’m gonna invite her to prom today at lunch, and maybe she’ll say yes. Who knows?”

“I just don’t want you to be hurt,” Bucky sighed.

Steve shrugged and started limping to his class with a smile so full of hope his best friend couldn’t help feeling sorry for him, and for all the girls who didn’t know what they were missing. But as soon as Natasha jumped on him and pretended to strangle him, Bucky stopped worrying for a second as he embraced his girlfriend.

*

The cafeteria was buzzing with noise, everybody was talking about the upcoming prom and newly formed couples acted like they would last forever. Thora was at her usual table, with her friends Jane, Darcy and Sif. Steve knew it was hazardous to ask her out in front of everyone, but Thora never was alone, she was friends with everyone and their mother. As he walked to the group, Steve started to think it was not such a good idea after all. She probably had had thousands of invitations, all the good looking guys must have formed a waiting line in front of her house. Or she was a lesbian. Or she would make fun of him. Or worse, _her friends_ would make fun of him!

Steve was about to run away, because all of a sudden it seemed like a terrible, terrible idea, but Thora noticed him walking towards them, and she waved her fingers at him with a small smile. A soft blush creeped up Steve’s cheeks and neck. Too late to step back. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest he could feel it in his head, and his brow was sweaty. Bravely, he walked to the table. Jane and Darcy stopped talking, they all looked at him.

“Thora? I --I… uh, this is for you,” Steve stammered, pulling out of his pocket a little card.

Thora took the card, broke into an admirative grin when she looked at the painted flower bouquet. “For me? Oh, thank you Steven!”

Steve almost choked. She knew his name! Unaware of Bucky and Natasha’s careful surveillance from across the room, he brushed a strand of hair off his forehead, trying to look cool even if though sounded like a husky mouse.

“So… I don’t know if you… if someone, I mean… if you’re…” Steve bit his bottom lip. Focus, Rogers, dammit! Focus! “If you don’t have plans, maybe you would like to go to the prom? With me, I mean…”

Thora had stopped eating and placed her chin on her hand during his pathetic speech. She chuckled loudly, and Steve knew he had lost the game. There was no way he could win after all. But she nodded, looked at the card once again, then at him with a beautiful smile.

“Yes, Steven, I would really like that.”

Steve’s eyes widened, and he was so ready for a negative answer that he almost immediately whispered apologies before realizing she had accepted.

“Wait, uh… you’re saying ‘yes’?” he coughed.

Thora’s long ponytail shook as she nodded joyfully. “Yes. I’ll be happy to be your partner. Thanks for the flowers by the way, they’re beautiful!”

Steve was certain that the huge smile on his face would never disappear. He was right, and Bucky would see he did it! But as Thora asked if he wanted to join them for lunch, brightening even more his day, he felt his chest tighten. His breath came short, his head was spinning and he had to grip the edge of the table as he started suffocating. Mortified, he searched for his inhaler in his pocket. He tried thinking of a way out but it was too late, Thora and all her group would have seen him anyway, gasping like a fish out of water. The inhaler fell from his trembling fingers -and was it all worth it? Choking because a girl had accepted his invitation? Steve’s knees were shaking, desperate wheezing sounds escaping his lips.

All the girls around the table started to panic, and Steve could hear some laughters in the room. Thora got up quickly, she grabbed the inhaler on the floor, dusted it off on her t-shirt, and placed it between Steve’s lips as she cradled him in her strong arms.

“Hey, stay with us…” she encouraged, her tone kind and worried. “Breathe. Here. Are you okay?”

“Ah… hm, better,” Steve croaked. He knew he was red as a beet, still shaky between her arms. The thought that the inhaler had touched Thora’s t-shirt before his lips, then the way she gently held him made him turn even redder but in this very moment Steve didn’t care. She was nice to him, and she would be his date! He tried to joke but this didn’t sound as cool as Bucky’s pick up lines. “You took my breath away.”

It was lame, Steve knew it, but Thora laughed anyway, and squeezed him harder, and when he felt the soft curve of a breast against his pointy shoulder Steve knew he’d better start running towards his locker or he would add a nosebleed to the list of today’s embarrassments.

*

Later that day, Thora was leaving the girl’s locker rooms when she was intercepted by Natasha and Bucky, two students she didn’t know very well. Both seemed furious.

“Why did you accept Steve’s invitation?” Bucky growled.

Thora stood straight to remind him she was taller, stronger and not afraid of him. She crossed her arms. “Why shouldn’t I?”

“This is just a fair warning,” Natasha said with a cold smile. “Steve is our friend, and if you try to hurt him… if you plan anything bad for prom night, if you set up a prank with your girls or decide to ridicule him, we’ll be there.”

“What the hell is wrong with you guys?” Thora protested, her Swedish accent getting thicker. She was confused but determined not to let anyone tell her what to do. “As you Americans say, this is a free country and I’ll go to the party with whomever I want!”

Bucky shook his head and took Natasha by the waist. “We’re just a couple of friends who wanna make sure this won’t be the worst day of Steve’s life. Understand?”

Thora shrugged, adjusted her pony tail and left without a word; she didn’t care about what they had to say, she would do whatever she wanted.

*

Steve groaned, blew his nose, took another tissue from the box to wipe his cheeks wet with tears, and changed the TV channel to find an even sadder song to cry to. This was the worst day of his life. Period.

He had worked hard, delivered newspapers for three weeks, sold some drawings online, walked the dogs of the neighborhood to get enough money to buy Thora a nice corsage and rent a suit -and how humiliating had it been to search for suits in the child’s aisle! He had even saved enough to take her to restaurant, hoping that it would make it up for the fact he didn’t have a license nor a car yet. And here he was, sick with the flu, feverish and trembling underneath his covers, a skinny zombie surrounded by dirty tissues. Maybe it was for the best, maybe he didn’t deserve a girl like that. He should have known it was too good to be true.

When he heard a soft knock on his bedroom’s door, Steve wiped his eyes and groaned. “Go away, Mooom! I don’t need anything, thanks!”

But the door opened anyway, and Steve was about to vigorously insult his mom for not letting him wallow in his misery -which wouldn’t have been worse than a ‘leave me alone, please!’, actually,- but his breath caught in his throat when Thora came in. For once, she was wearing make-up and it made the blue of her eyes even more outstanding. She had traded her usual ponytail for big curls falling onto her shoulders. Her dress was an outrageous mix of silver scales, black and red satin, hugging her beautiful curves. Steve couldn’t deny he thought for a second she was an apparition caused by his fever.

“Steven? I thought you’d like to see my dress, even if we aren’t...” she said softly.

Steve quickly threw all of his dirty tissues in the basket as he admired her. “It’s beautiful! You are gorgeous.”

The tall girl blushed and looked down, touched by the compliment. “Thank you.”

“So, you… you found someone else to take you there, or you’re going with your friends?” Steve asked in a tone he didn’t want to sound so desperate.

Thora shook her head. “No, I’m not going. I just put the dress so that you could see it, it’s my mom who sent it to me, she made it herself and…”

“Oh no, no!” Steve assured, panicking a little. “You should go, I don’t want to spoil your night! I’m sorry I couldn’t come but please, you can still go and have fun without me! I’m sure a lot of guys would line up just to dance with you.”

Thora sat on the edge of his bed, making Steve feel uglier and more vulnerable than ever. “I don’t want to go. I was looking forward to spending time with you, it’s not fun if you’re not there. I thought I could perhaps stay with you so that you’re not alone? We could just watch a movie or something?”

Steve couldn’t believe his eyes. Here she was, even more magnificent than usual, smelling like flowers and sunshine, smiling at him like he was the Eighth Wonder despite his stinky ugly pajamas and sick face. And she would stay with him on the most magical night of their teenage years. He knew it from the start, this girl was a treasure and he would have to work hard to be worthy of her.

Wiggling awkwardly in his bed, Steve made some room for her, and Thora immediately settled against his side, leaving her shoes on the floor.

“I… wait, I might be contagious,” Steve warned but she shook her head.

“I’ve had a flu shot this year, and really, no one but you could catch the flu in late spring,” she smiled.

Steve dared to brush his little cold fingers on her rosy cheek. “Why me? Why did you say yes? You could have had better, I’m sure some handsome guys asked you on a date.”

Thora licked her lips and placed an arm around his neck. “Because I’ve seen you, Steven. You stand up to bullies, you don’t give up your lunch money when you get beaten, you don’t shut your big mouth even if it’s dangerous for you. You help others and you call out bullies, you defended me when everyone was mocking my accent or called me stupid for not understanding some aspects of your culture. You helped Jane becoming the head of the science club even if she was a girl, you fought a guy who had tried to grope Darcy, you supported Sif when she was called a dyke…”

Leaning in, Thora pressed her cool lips on his warm temple. “You’re a great guy, Steve, exactly the kind of boyfriend I want to have.”

Steve was feeling all hot inside but he wasn’t sure the flu was to blame this time. He dared to place his thin arm around her waist as the word boyfriend echoed in his mind. This was so much better than he had hoped!

“So, hm, I had saved money for tonight but since we’re not going out, we can order pizza if you want?” he suggested. “You pick the toppings.”

“Okay, but we pick the toppings you can eat,” Thora corrected, proving herself an even better girlfriend than he dreamed of.

*

Later that night after they had watched several episodes of _Akta Människor,_ a great but sad Swedish tv show he had had a mind to download before to get to know her country better, Steve used the last tissue of the box to wipe Thora’s cheeks. 

They both looked at their cellphones and Thora announced with a sigh that her cheating sister was the new Prom Queen, while Steve proudly replied to Bucky’s worried texts. _‘I’m fine, don’t freak out. I’ve got Thora in my bed.’_ He then turned off his phone to let Bucky and Natasha ponder his message all night long.

She had noticed him before, she helped him with his asthma, she spent the evening with him instead of partying with her friends, she loved Hawaiian pizza and ate his olives, and she gave him his very first kiss despite his flu. The moment her lips touched his, Steve knew he was in love.


End file.
